Written by Cetanarahita dasa

Some say, “God has no name,” but God has so many names that any one name is not God’s only name. We cannot limit the Unlimited.

All-attractive

God has unlimited names according to His activities. He is called Devaki-nandana because He accepted Devaki as His mother. He is called Nanda-nandana and Yashoda-nandana in relationship with Nanda Maharaja and Yashoda, His foster father and mother. He is called Partha-sarathi because He was the chariot driver of Arjuna. He is Bhakta-vatsala, affectionate to His devotees. He is Gopinatha, the Lord of the gopis. He is Gopijana-vallabha, beloved of the inhabitants of Vrindavana. He is Bhava-grahi Janardana, who understands one’s mental attitude. He is Varadaraja, the best of the givers of benedictions. He is Avatari, the source of all incarnations. He is Radha-ramana, the lover of Radharani. He is Govinda, who gives pleasure to the cows and to everyone’s senses.

He is Krishna. If any transcendental name belongs to the Absolute Personality of Godhead, it must be the name indicated by the word Krishna, which means all-attractive. One is attractive if he is wealthy, powerful, famous, beautiful, wise, or renounced. The Supreme Person possesses in fullness all wealth, all power, all fame, all beauty, all wisdom, and all renunciation. Therefore He is Bhagavan. Bhaga means “opulence” and van means “one who possesses.”

Lord Sri Krishna is mentioned on every page of the Bhagavad-gita as Bhagavan. The word Bhagavan denotes a great person or demigod, but all authorities of Vedic knowledge confirm that Krishna is the Supreme Person. The Lord Himself establishes this in the Bhagavad-gita, and He is accepted as such in the Brahma-samhita and all the Puranas, especially Srimad-Bhagavatam.

Krishna’s Unparalleled Activities

The Vedic history of the universe extends billions of years into the past. Throughout those years, it gives the histories of Krishna’s appearances and disappearances. In the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna tells Arjuna that both He and Arjuna had had many births before. Krishna could remember all of them but Arjuna could not. This is the difference between Krishna, God, and Arjuna, man. Krishna’s knowledge and memory are boundless, but Arjuna’s knowledge and memory are limited by time and space.

Krishna incarnates on one planet after another in infinite universes. He appeared on this earth in His original form as Krishna five thousand years ago. He stayed here for 125 years and played exactly like a human being, but His activities were unparalleled in the history of the world. Within the prison of His maternal uncle, Kamsa, where His father and mother were confined, Krishna appeared outside His mother’s body as the four-handed Vishnu-Narayana. Then He turned Himself into a baby and told His father to carry Him to the house of Nanda Maharaja and his wife Yashoda. When Krishna was just a small baby the gigantic demoness Putana attempted to kill Him, but when He sucked her breast He pulled out her life.

God Is Always God

Krishna did not practice meditation to become God. He manifested Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead at every step, from infancy to childhood, from childhood to boyhood, and from boyhood to young manhood. Although Krishna plays like a human being, He always maintains His identity as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Krishna is the original person among all persons. Krishna expands Himself into innumerable forms, such as Baladeva, Rama, Nrisimha, and Varaha. All these forms are one and the same Personality of Godhead. They are not like our forms, which are fallible. His form is infallible. My form has a beginning, but His multiforms have no beginning or end. Krishna can be everywhere at once. He is in Goloka Vrindavana, and at the same time He is everywhere, all-pervading. He is original, the oldest, but whenever you look at a picture of Krishna you’ll find a young boy fifteen or twenty years old. Krishna, God, never becomes old.

The Supreme Engineer

Krishna is the origin of all creations. Everything emanates from Him. In the beginning there was no Brahma, no Shiva, no Indra, no sun, no moon, no stars, no electricity. There was only Krishna. By the will of the Lord, everything emanates from Him, is maintained by Him, and enters into Him at the end. And yet He is so perfect that He doesn’t manage everything personally. His inconceivable energies do all the work by His will. The chief engineer of a complicated construction does not personally take part in the construction, but he knows every nook and corner because everything is done under his direction. He knows everything about the construction, both directly and indirectly. Similarly, the Personality of Godhead, the supreme engineer of this cosmic creation, knows every nook and corner, although affairs are being carried out by His plenary expansions and demigods.

Krishna Is the Enjoyer

Krishna is compared to the root of a tree or the stomach in the body. When one waters the root of a tree, he automatically waters the branches, twigs, leaves and flowers; when one supplies food to the stomach through the mouth, he satisfies all the parts of the body. If we love Krishna, we will automatically realize universal love, unity, and tranquility.

When Krishna Plays His Flute

Krishna is the primeval Lord, Govinda, who has pastimes with the cows and the cowherd boys and girls in the spiritual earthly village of Gokula. When Krishna plays beautiful dancing notes on His flute, it attracts the hearts of all living beings. As the petal of the lotus flower is a pleasant sight, Krishna’s eyes, the revelation of spiritual vision, expand the unlimited splendor of His moonlike face. His beauty is set off by the charming peacock feather that adorns His head. The hue of Krishna’s body resembles a tranquil blue rain cloud. The loveliness of Krishna is far more enchanting than Cupid’s multiplied billions of times.

For more reading:
Srimad-Bhagavatam: 1.1.1, 1.3.28, 2.9.33
Brahma-samhita: 5.1, 5.39, 5.46
Chaitanya-charitamrita: Adi-lila, 5.142
Bhagavad-gita: 7.7, 10.8, 10.12, 10.41, 14.4

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